SMX co-founder and CEO Jesse Ball has officially stepped back from the day to day operations of the company, making the announcement via his Facebook page.

After co-founding the company in 2006 with friend Thom Hooker, Ball has led the company from startup in 2006, through 50% year-on-year growth, to its current position as a cloud services technology leader with over 1,000 customers and more than two million users across New Zealand, Australia, India and Japan.

After acquiring experience working for companies including Air New Zealand, EDS, IBM and Openwave, Ball helped SMX secure large customers such as Fujitsu and Telecom in New Zealand, as well as Telstra Australia across the Tasman.

Ball says he will still remain a director and majority shareholder of the company however.

“Today after 9 years of blood sweat and tears, I have officially stepped back from day to day operations as CEO of SMX,” he said.

“Still a director and major shareholder, but no more stress, travel and getting up early for work – happy and content.

“Now onto the next challenge!”

SMX have yet to make an official statement regarding Ball’s exact departure from the role, with no current updates on his successor.